chipman wrote:I always found that shaking from right to left works best. That is unless you are left handed, then I guess the opposite would work better.

I do the same. Shaking up and down would cake the grinds to the lid sometimes and make things a bit messy.

I also prefer the regular blind tumbler instead of the shaker due to the difference in the exit diameter for the grinds. The smaller hole of the tumbler distributes the coffee in a tighter mound in the center of the basket. With the shaker. The edges of the mound were a bit too close to the edge of the basket and the would sometimes collapse and spill over the edge.

Full stop. No half measures. Thankful to be in such a supportive community.

mrespresso23

Postby mrespresso23 » Feb 10, 2019, 6:12 am

Sounds to me like it is time to consider a V2 of the blind shaker. Maybe now that Craig Lyn is on his own, he might revisit the design and improve it upon feedback that has been accumulated over the past few years.

It is a sexy product that I'm perosnally drawn to, but I have seen enough negative comments that prevent me from ordering one.

V2 shaker + the return of the Lyn Weber portafilter stand will be on my short buying list.

BaristaBob

Postby BaristaBob » Feb 10, 2019, 8:48 am

mrespresso23 wrote:Sounds to me like it is time to consider a V2 of the blind shaker. Maybe now that Craig Lyn is on his own, he might revisit the design and improve it upon feedback that has been accumulated over the past few years.

I've only been using the Blind Shaker for a week, but I'm feeling flavor in the cup has improved for all three coffees I'm currently consuming. However, I think I agree that the design could use a tweak, if only by a redesign of the "game" board piece. If the plug had a "softer" taper I think the grounds would slide off of it easier and faster. This would add a little weight to the Shaker, as a whole, but not that much. Just my opinion.

Bob "hello darkness my old friend..."

BaristaBob

Postby BaristaBob » Feb 10, 2019, 8:52 pm

It appears that Craig himself posted this on the Craig Lyn Design Studio thread today. His video shows how he would use the Blind Shaker, which is pretty much like I have been doing. Note...he does not spin the lid before removing it from the rest of the Shaker, which I think helps remove grounds from around the lid edge.

Are we making this more difficult than need be? I have found a quick shake and a single tap of the lid to clean any grounds is all that is needed. IMHO

bluesman

Postby bluesman » replying to chipman » Feb 11, 2019, 8:28 am

Yes - and we're making it more expensive than need be. The Weber item is gorgeous and makes me feel good just holding it. But before buying one, I decided to try shaking in a less exotic vessel to see if it helped. I ground into an old 12 ounce steaming pitcher, covered it with my palm, and shook it around a few times before pouring the dose into the basket. It works great!

So I never bought the Shaker.

BaristaBob

Postby BaristaBob » Feb 11, 2019, 8:29 am

chipman wrote:Are we making this more difficult than need be? I have found a quick shake and a single tap of the lid to clean any grounds is all that is needed. IMHO

Hi Steve,

I think the short answer is well yes. But, I'd like to see what others do too. I won't go as far as clicking my heels together three times and saying "there's no coffee like home"...even if it's true!

Bob "hello darkness my old friend..."

Moxiechef

Postby Moxiechef » Feb 11, 2019, 9:20 am

BaristaBob wrote:It appears that Craig himself posted this on the Craig Lyn Design Studio thread today. His video shows how he would use the Blind Shaker, which is pretty much like I have been doing. Note...he does not spin the lid before removing it from the rest of the Shaker, which I think helps remove grounds from around the lid edge.

I tried Craig's video method this morning and though it didn't give me as an even extraction as my method, it did a pretty good job. I'm gonna use this method all week and see if I can get it right.

cunim

Postby cunim » Feb 11, 2019, 11:19 am

Yes - and we're making it more expensive than need be. The Weber item is gorgeous and makes me feel good just holding it. But before buying one, I decided to try shaking in a less exotic vessel to see if it helped. I ground into an old 12 ounce steaming pitcher, covered it with my palm, and shook it around a few times before pouring the dose into the basket. It works great!

So I never bought the Shaker.

Seems reasonable. My hypothesis is that it is best to minimize the tapping and hitting, so that what gets tamped is a fluffy and somewhat level bed of grounds. Wouldn't every sharp tap act to stratify the puck, defeating the purpose of WDT?

]So, I am using an old Kodak 4 oz beaker (salvaged from my dark room) to catch the grinds, dump that into the PF with funnel, stir thoroughly and then just minimal grooming of the grounds to get things level. One quick and gentle tap at most, if necessary. Since doing this, my shots have been very consistent. Flow starts at the edges of the PF, moves very quickly inwards, creates a nice flow pillar and shows full and even coverage of the PF. The question is, what more could I look for? I have to look at the PF for results because I doubt my ability to identify subtle distribution effects by taste.

pcrussell50

Postby pcrussell50 » Feb 11, 2019, 11:40 pm

I have the blind tumbler https://lynweber.com/accessories/blind-tumbler/ It came with my HG-1. I don't bother shaking. I set the tumbler on top of the portafilter basket and just ease the center post out slowly, wiggling and clinking from side to side as I go. That usually provides all the mixing action I need. Alternately, in the past, I have set a funnel on top of my portafilter basket, then dropped the grounds from the tumbler into the funnel on the basket. Then did WDT. I'm not sure if there is a difference in the pulls. This grinder/tumbler and technique are used on a direct lever machine, where you can profile to adjust flow to compensate (at least some) for any prep errors.